Effect of a single dose of low-level laser therapy on spontaneous and chewing pain caused by elastomeric separators

•Placement of separators causes postoperative spontaneous and chewing pain.•In the literature, multiple applications of low-level laser therapy reduced pain.•The effect of low-level laser therapy on chewing pain has not been studied.•We assessed a single dose of low-level laser therapy on spontaneous and chewing pain.•One dose of low-level laser therapy reduces both types of pain.

IntroductionThe aim of this study was to see the effect of a single dose of low-level laser therapy on spontaneous and chewing pain after the placement of elastomeric separators.MethodsEighty-eight patients were randomly selected for this single-blind study. Elastomeric separators were placed mesial and distal to the permanent first molars in all quadrants. Both arches were divided into experimental and control sides. The experimental sides were treated with low-level laser therapy on 3 points on the buccal mucosa for 20 seconds each, with a 940-nm gallium-aluminum-arsenic diode laser on continuous mode and power set at 200 mW. The other side received placebo laser therapy without turning on the laser. A numeric rating scale was used to assess the intensity of spontaneous and chewing pain for the next 7 days. The independent sample t test and repeated-measures analysis of variance with the post hoc Tukey test was used to analyze the results.ResultsSignificant differences were found in spontaneous and chewing pain among both groups (P <0.05).ConclusionsA single dose of low-level laser therapy can be an efficient modality to reduce the postoperative pain associated with the placement of elastomeric separators.